Adjectives

To identify an adjective, just check whether the word gives you more information about a noun.  Adjectives always relate to nouns (sometimes indirectly - via a pronoun; see pronoun section below), and usually describe them in some way – eg. to denote size/colour/texture/quality/etc.  Some examples of adjectives:  brown; soft; musical; large; expensive; happy.

In English, adjectives normally appear before the noun they describe (eg. ‘the black shoes’; ‘a small table’).  In Portuguese however, (as with other European languages) the adjective appears after the noun (eg. ‘os sapatos pretos’, ‘uma mesa pequena’).  This takes a bit of getting used to, but is actually more logical, especially when using several adjectives in a row, because you know what noun is being described up-front, whereas in English you have to wait for the sentence to finish before you know what is being spoken about.

Comments

adjectives that come before the noun Written by Tina on 2006-05-04 17:26:13 IP: 80.3.128.8 There are adjectives that come before the noun, such as "mal/ma," "grande," "bom/boa," etc. I guess these are the exceptions that Portuguese beginners need to learn by reading and listening to the language.

Adjectives before nouns Written by Administrator on 2006-05-04 17:28:22 IP: 80.3.128.8 Yes, some adjectives do appear before the noun, and some can be placed before or after. This can even affect the meaning, for example: 'o homem grande' means 'the big man', but 'o grande homem' means 'the great man'. The vast majority of adjectives in Portuguese come after the noun though.

Adjectives before nouns Written by Ricardo Barreira on 2006-08-24 14:12:01 IP: 213.199.128.177 Very well said with the "o homem grande" / "o grande homem" example. Something similar is valid for the other adjectives Tina mentioned:    "Um homem mau" usually means "An evil man"  "Um mau homem" doesn't sound so strong, so something like "A bad man"    And a funny example which is frequently the source of jokes among Portuguese people:    "Uma mulher boa" means "A hot woman"  "Uma boa mulher" means "A good woman" (as in Mother Theresa)

Adjectives before nouns Written by Francisco on 2007-03-02 00:53:26 IP: 85.139.118.118 Yes, there is even a joke about it. What's the difference between a "boa secretária" and a "secretária boa"? The "boa secretária" says "good morning, chief", the "secretária boa" says "is it morning already, chief?".

Mr Written by Dermot on 2010-06-25 15:20:59 IP: 92.236.176.19 Thanks for the excellent help re adjectives

placement of adjectives Written by Jaynie on 2011-02-18 10:12:11 IP: 41.220.173.52 Enjoying this site tremendously. I live in Mozambique and find the Portuguese language fascinating.   There are also some other adjectives that often precede the noun, such as : belo,longo,breve, novo, muito, as well as numbers: Cinco livros, seguna-feira, mais uma coLa,   Please note: Antigo Testamento, but cabeca velha  One says: a proxima semana or a proxima vez , but says : o ano pasado I remember it as: looking forward ( in time), "proxima" is placed forward of the noun. When looking behind.."passado" is placed behind the noun.  I'm sure there are more examples.

Isso/ Isto; Esse/ Esta Written by Adelaide on 2011-06-19 05:25:02 IP: 142.179.244.125 Once again I turn to you. I can find a definitive answer no where else. The course I am taking seems to interchange "isso and isto" as "this or that" with no regard to any rules about it. The same with "esse and este." Is there a way to tell for sure which one a person should use at a given time? Thanks so much for your help.  Adelaide

Isso/isto; Esse/este Written by Administrator on 2011-06-24 05:32:28 IP: 80.6.204.171 Please see the comments on this page: http://www.learningportuguese.co.uk/language/nouns-and-articles.html (in particular the one by 'Frederico' towards the end).

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